Is my filter not working well?

[Dennyhle]

I'm in California where the wind/fires happened. No fires near me but the wind pushed a lot of dirt into my pool. Probably the dirtiest I've seen it. I have some steps and I brush the dirt onto the floor for my Dolphin robot to vacuum but a few hours later a new layer of dirt is settled on the steps. Repeat every a few times a day for last few days. The winds have stopped so I'm not getting new dirt so I imagine its the dirt going through the pump and coming back out from the returns?

Is there anything I can do? It does seem a little every day though.

 

[1poolman1]

As the fine dust/dirt gets disturbed it floats into the water where it may be so fine that it can't be seen. Unless it is continuously suspended in the water by brushing or your robotic cleaner, it starts to settle again. Stir up dust and it immediately starts to settle. Since the steps are higher in the pool than the bottom it settles there first and that's where you see it. I always told customers that we can get floating stuff off the top into the skimmer and settled stuff off the bottom with a cleaner but there is nothing that can be done about what is in the water between those two.

Also, circulation in a pool is not completely even so it won't be "washed" off the steps by flowing water as the steps in a pool are usually "dead" areas as far as circulation. My pool has a return about one foot from my steps directing water toward them and they still collect the most dust.
Eventually, with brushing and a cleaner, it usually all goes away until the next wind event.

 

[ajw22]

This is one of the few times we recommend using a clarifier. It will clump up the stuff so the filter can catch it.

Clarifier - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com